food, photography, & diy

Menu

Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies (vegan)

My sister and her boyfriend Brad came down for the holidays with their little wiggly fluff, Resi, and things have been crazy. We went to an amazing Christmas Eve dinner at my cousin Kiera’s – all vegan! We had butternut squash soup, veggie pot pies (YUM) cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, mushroom stuffing, and fresh sourdough. I made a Buche de Noel and Brad made my Winter Quinoa Croquettes. It was all pretty stellar. And Kiera’s little ladies were definitely ready to go to sleep – and were excited to see that the elves had swung by and left them some pajamas! It was exciting for us too :)

We also did some hiking as well as spent some time at my aunt Margo’s cabin and romped at the beach up at Point Reyes. What I’m saying is: I don’t feel bad posting this a little after Christmas, because I had lots of fun this week. Besides, cookies are not for Christmas. Neither is peppermint or chocolate. My other argument is that mint grows in the summer: that’s all the proof I need that these are a year-long treat. Plus, what else are you going to do with all your leftover peppermint sticks?

My friend that I used to work with at the Art/Music Library where I went to college made these and I loved-loved them so much. You can make them with crushed peppermints she also flavored them with peppermint Schnapps. They are soft but firm cookies and have a great chocolate-peppermint flavor. I’ve made these with a coconut butter, too, and the chocolate was unbelievable with it, so I would highly recommend finding coconut butter if you can.

Of course, like I always say, these are great with tea. But this time, they are actually best with coffee!

Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Melt the chocolate with 1 teaspoon butter and add to one of the dough chunks along with the vanilla extract. Mix to incorporate (use your hands if necessary).

To the other half of dough, add peppermint extract (and/or crushed peppermints) and mix to incorporate (again, use your hands if necessary).

Flatten both doughs into round flat discs, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. Roll out separately on parchment paper in similar-sized rectangles 1/4-inch thick. Place the rolled-out peppermint dough on top of the chocolate dough (which should still be on top of its parchment paper). Press the edges together and trim the edges into a neat rectangle.

When the dough is pliable enough to roll without breaking, use the parchment paper to roll the length of the dough into a log (so that the cookie roll is long and thin rather than fat and short). Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for two hours.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two or more baking sheets with parchment paper. Take out the cookie roll from the fridge and cut into 1/2-inch slices with a sharp knife. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Stage the cookie sheets in the fridge until the oven is fully preheated (this will prevent the cookies from spreading too much). Bake for 12-13 minutes rotating halfway through. Let sit on the baking sheet for two minutes after cooking and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.